Plan
Episode 8, Season 3, of War. Enjoy! Plan They say your friends' silence speaks as much to you as their words. Mostly everyone's silence right now is a lot of cursing. Except for Grayleaf, he's probably thinking something normal like, How very odd. I mean, how often do you learn that the tom who's been dogging you for days is the brother of the leader of your enemies? Oakclaw takes a step forward. "That's all the more reason-" Gorsefur shakes his head. "No. Adderscar's right- we'd be breaking all kind of treaties. Plus it wouldn't be...savvy." "Screw savvy! It would be justice." Shadowsong meows darkly. Gorsefur looks at Adderscar, "Couldn't just leave it, could you?" Adderscar shrugs. "Alright everyone! We're taking him to the prisons at Main," Gorsefur announced. "I'm not carrying him," Oakclaw mutters. "It's not far," Briarclaw meows, screwing her eyes shut. "A day's walk." "Not factoring in an stops like hunting, sleeping, foxes, badgers, Oakclaw walking into a tree..." Adderscar adds, determined not to be outdone. "You're saying you feel comfortable sleeping with him around?" Briarclaw glares at him, nodding to Thundercloud. Adderscar opens his mouth to reply and Gorsefur sighs, "We really need to get going..." No one is willing to contend with the commander, especially after the day we've had. Oakclaw sighs and starts to drag Thundercloud none too gently through the forest. "Brookfall?" I gulp, then turn. Gorsefur waits for me and I pad over. "You came back for me." It's not a question. I nod. "I had to tell you what we found out-" "We?" "Adderscar and I." I see the flash of jealousy in his eyes and snort. "Seriously? Adderscar?" "Some she-cats go for that," he mutter. "Adderscar and I are not together," I say firmly. "He's still mourning Silverflower. And he's not exactly the type to rebound." Gorsefur looks at me a moment, then laughs. "I missed you." "I missed you too," I say softly, heart beginning to pound. He just looks at me with those golden eyes, my two suns. I want so badly to reach out and curl up with him and never leave. But we're soldiers. I pull back and see the hurt in his eyes. I know he sees the hurt in mine. "We should go," I whisper. "Make sure Thundercloud doesn't wake up. Gorsefur nods and brushes past me, lingering a moment longer than necessary. He's gone and I feel tears pressing at my eyes. He almost died and I still can't let myself fall. I've fallen so far and so hard, it's hard to know where I am anymore. But I know we can't do this. Yet. I will the tears away, will them to come back tonight when I can cry myself to sleep then pad after the only tom I've ever loved. The trek was hard, and more then a little awkward. Adderscar and Briarclaw stay as far away from each other as they can and Gorsefur walks beside Oakclaw instead of me. The only one who doesn't feel the tension is Thundercloud, who has yet to regain conscious. I'm starting to get offended- sure the tree was tall, but I'm not that heavy. Right? "Shadowsong," I whisper. "Am I fat?" "Like a stick," she whispers back, whiskers twitching. Hrmph. Easy for her to say. We set up camp after too long. Thundercloud is an obnoxiously huge cat and Oakclaw, despite his reassurances, was exhausted. Wounds are treated, watches are called, and within moments, everyone but Oakclaw and Gorsefur- the first watch- is asleep. I creep out of my nest and into the forest. I run, letting the wind run through my fur and call up the tears again. When I become blinded, I stop running, letting them soak my paws and the ground. I sob like the earth is ending, like my heart is being wrenched out my chest, still beating. I'm not someone who is weepy. But there's only so much someone can take. I tried to promise myself, after Gorsefur was rescued from FireClan Main, that nothing would make me cry again, because nothing could be as painful. I was wrong. I feel myself tapering off, nothing but a cold feeling in my chest and a warm tears on my cheeks. "Brookfall?" Oh dirt. I look up through tear-blurred eyes to see Oakclaw peering down at me. "Oh jeez," he says, crouching beside me. "It's okay, hey, shh...." Of course, all that starts off a fresh round of tears. Oakclaw comforts me and I remember when it was the two of us, struggling to keep hope with Shadowsong and Gorsefur gone. "Brookfall, c'mon." he makes me meet his eyes. "I know, you've been holding onto a lot. But it's almost sunrise." "Why-why aren't you-you sleeping?" I sob, trying to regain control of myself. "I couldn't, with...anyways, I heard you and came to check." Oakclaw gives me a small grin. "Come on, it's okay..." "I just..." I look at my paws, the shaking sobs subsiding and leaving simple weeping in its wake. "Tell me why you and Gorsefur aren't together." I glare at him and he purrs. "Seriously." "Because...because...why aren't you and Shadowsong together?" "We are." he narrows his eyes. "...I think. Might have to look into that. But, see, when we were on watch he just kept quiet the whole time, not looking at me. He's hurting too. I mean, you've both said the 'l' word, so why aren't you making tiny Gorsefurs and Brookfalls?" I purr weakly. "You're an idiot." "But you stopped crying." I get to my paws and, after making sure I'm alright Oakclaw vanishes into the forest. I carefully dry my eyes and fur and head back to camp. When I get back, the recruits are talking quietly. Shadowsong is snuggled up against Oakclaw. Adderscar and Gorsefur are missing. Thundercloud is still out. This is getting insane. "He's pretending to be asleep," Briarclaw warns. "He thinks we'll start talking about stuff if he's unconscious." I snort, but keep my distance. Shadowsong stirs as I approach then wakes. I expect her to shriek and disembowel Oakclaw, once seeing their sleeping arrangement but she just casually scoots away and looks up at me, "Yes?" "Have you seen Adderscar?" Her whiskers twitch and I glare at her. "It's not like that. Actually, will you come with me to look for him? You're evil, I need someone evil to think of an evil plan." Shadowsong gets up and stretched. She looks at Oakclaw and smirks. "I feel kinda bad, leaving him all cold and alone." She turns and strides away. As soon as her back is turned, Oakclaw opens his eyes and grins at me. I snort, following Shadowsong. Adderscar is sitting in a tree, his tail hanging down. Shadowsong grabs it with her teeth and yanks. Adderscar starts and nearly falls. He glares down at us and drops. "What's up?" "We need to figure out Firestar's plan." I meow. "It'll happen soon." "Whoa, time out." Shadowsong interrupts. "What plan?" "Firestar will never surrender," Adderscar meows bitterly. "Brookfall and I are the only ones who know that and we've been trying to figure it out. It has something to do with Badgerstrike and EarthClan." "Badgerstrike?" "Yeah, we saw him. He looks depressed." Shadowsong digests this slowly, then looks at me. "So what are our clues?" "Firstar sent his niece and nephew...Thundercloud's kids I guess....to EarthClan for a 'vacation'. They were spying though. EarthClan shares a border with us and Firestar is using Badgerstrike for something-" "How do we know he's using Badgerstrike?" Shadowsong asks. "He didn't tell Badgerstrike about Silverflower. Badgerstrike thought the deal was no one would die. Firestar needed Badgerstrike happy and willing to get his support. Something he can't get without Badgerstrike's cooperation- like a strategy." "Yeah..." Shadowsong meows, that mischievous glint coming into her eyes. "Okay, if I were him, I'd tell him he was proving his worth to FireClan. That this would make him an honored member of FireClan, someone a leader could be friends with." she sighs, sad and bitter. "Badgerstrike would buy it in a heartbeat." I remember Adderscar's angry words to his mentor and squeeze my eyes shut. "Okay, so the plan..." "What camps are on the border?" Shadowsong asks. "My old camp was..." I try to think of other camps, but all that extra education was more likely to go to cats from Main. "There's Sunrise and Greenrose. But Summerstorm is the nearest to EarthClan." "How many cats live there?" she asks me. "It's a small camp," I meow. "But...enough to do harm, I guess. Why?" Panic rises inside me. Adderscar blinks. "That's...no...that's insane..." "What?" I ask. He doesn't answer. "What?!" My mother's eyes swim before my eyes, my father's loud purrs. Suddenly Gorsefur appears. His fur is sticking up in tufts. "Hey, we need you back at camp. There's a courier." I glare at Adderscar and he walks by me. Gorsefur meets my eyes, then looks away. Shadowsong just stretches and lopes back to the make-shift camp. The courier is a silvery she-cat. Her green eyes are the only difference between her and Silverflower's ghost. Adderscar walks back out of camp. "Oakclaw and Shadowsong of this squad have been summoned by Waterstar to act as guards during the treaty signing." she declares. Oakclaw and Shadowsong look at each other. Gorsefur shakes his head, "We have an important prisoner-" "Who can come with us," the she-cat meows easily. "Well... I guess it's back to Main then," Gorsefur meows. "Not quite," Adderscar is back and he looks at the courier, "Can we have a moment?" She nods and leaves. "We can't go back to Main." Adderscar meows shortly. "I think your attention to detail is most riveting," Shadowsong meows drily. "We can split up. Shadowsong and Oakclaw can take Thundercloud to Main and the rest of us have to go to Summerstorm." "Why?" I meow, heart racing. Adderscar can't meet my eyes. "Because Firestar is going to attack there." I take a step back, "Why?" I whisper. "EarthClan teeters on the edge of joining the war. If a new stream of WaterClan refugees were to flood in..." he lets the threat hang and I shiver. "And with the 'treaties' going on, no one will think to guard the borders around there, since it's so far away," Adderscar swallows. "We have to warn them." "Where will they go?" I whisper. He shrugs helplessly and I feel more tears well. Shadowsong presses against me. "You'll stop them," she promises. "We have to leave now," Gorsefur meows. "Thundercloud is more important...I can go alone," I say, suddenly not sure I want my squad in my old home. "Not an option." Gorsefur pads to stand by me. Adderscar does the same, then the recruits. I can't help but smile. Shadowsong and Oakclaw prepare to say goodbye. Oakclaw gives me a comforting lick on the forehead. "You'll be fine," he tells me. "Give my regrets to your parents." I mock shudder and he purrs. Shadowsong gives me a serious look, "If you want me to try and kill Firestar..." I purr and she sighs, "My talents continue to go underappreciated." The others say good bye, and then we're separated. "We'd better start," Gorsefur finally says. And we run. Not 'oh, I love to run' running. Or even 'I have to get this rabbit or my Clan will starve' running. 'Oh no if we don't make it the world will literally end' running. It takes two long days of hard running to get to Summerstorm. When we finally arrive, I take a deep breath. "Ready?" Gorsefur asks. "No," I say truthfully. And then, not knowing what else to do, I lead my new life into my old life, ready for the two to collide. Not to mention the killer FireClan invasion. No pressure. Sigh. Category:Artimas Hunter's Fanfics